A Different Future
by Wedjatqi
Summary: What if you could glimpse your future? John/Teyla. COMPLETE.


**Title**: A Different Future  
**Rating**: **M (mild)  
****Warnings/Spoilers: **Set post Season 5  
**Disclaimers**: I own no part of the Stargate world, I make no money from this, so on and so forth.

**Note:** I finished a brilliant book last night called 'Flashforward' by Robert J. Sawyer. This is a shameless use of the same concept. I believe a tv series was made based on the book, but I haven't seen it and I heard it didn't do very well. The original book is a great read though and I highly recommend it. This is the John/Teyla idea the book inspired. It's meant as a fun little fic, and I will probably use it as a springboard for another fic I'm going to be writing for the latest Beya challenge.

00000

It was still odd to know that the blue sky over the city was home – that they were on Earth. In the first couple of months after Atlantis had splashed down off the coast of San Francisco, it had felt like a vacation. They were 'home', but still in the city. Only, the vacation had gone on a little too long now and it was clear that they weren't going to go back to Pegasus.

He and Woolsey had tried to make the argument to return to Pegasus, but John had guessed which way the answer would go. If the Ancient weapons platform hadn't been destroyed by the Wraith it might have turned out differently, but now Earth had no weapons chair to defend itself. Atlantis was all the defence they could ask for, plus it was full to bursting with advanced technology and knowledge to unlock. Without the constant distraction of keeping the city safe and the Wraith at bay, meant that the city could now be properly studied. In keeping Atlantis on Earth, it also meant that the Wraith were less likely to find their way here any time soon. Everything was against them leaving.

Maybe it was the right decision, because John didn't want to leave Earth undefended, but it felt like they had abandoned Pegasus in the middle of a fight. They had left everyone there unguarded against the Wraith, and that's what really stuck in John's throat. Most of the Athosians were still back there, on New Athos. Left undefended against a future culling, and John hated that.

Thank God, Teyla and Torren had been in the city when it had left Pegasus. Of course Teyla worried about her people left back there, though two other Athosians had been in the city, which helped a bit John guessed. Shame one of them was Kanaan.

John caught himself with that thought. That wasn't the way to think about it. Torren had his father with him, and Teyla had her…John wasn't even sure what name they used. Maybe she and Kanaan were married by Athosian standards, John didn't know and he wasn't about to ask. He rarely saw them together, only when Teyla exchanged Torren's care with Kanaan at the start or end of a shift in the Mess Hall.

Maybe he should really make more of an effort with Kanaan, after all, he was Torren's father and it looked like they would be spending the foreseeable future living on Earth. A future, at least for now, living and working in Atlantis.

John would take that for now. Those he cared about were around him and safe. If only they could have taken care of the Wraith before leaving Pegasus, he might sleep better. Not that he had trouble getting to sleep as he was kept very busy running the city alongside Woolsey. Atlantis was very much a proper city nowadays, with its occupants changing daily. Scientists, military personnel, engineers, historians, politicians – you name it, they visited Atlantis, and John was in charge of protecting all of them. Some days he wished he could just go back to fighting Wraith again. Woolsey was also busier than ever before, working the IOA political side of things with his expert care, and between them, he and Woolsey kept Atlantis afloat, literally, on Earth as well as they had in Pegasus. In some ways, it was far harder.

The balcony door slid open behind John and he heard a military boot hit the hard floor of the balcony. Damn, he had been enjoying his silent ten minutes to himself.

"Sir, we have some strange readings you should see," Chuck called.

John quickly turned away from his silent contemplation of the view across the city and his ten-minute coffee break. "What kind of readings?" John asked as he followed Chuck back into the Control Room.

It was a Sunday afternoon and therefore quieter than normal for Atlantis. Fewer visitors were moving in and out of the city on a Sunday, though it was still reasonably busy in and around the Control Room. John glanced off towards the closed doors of the conference room where Woolsey was conducting a meeting with some European delegates. He really didn't want to interrupt Woolsey's meeting – it had taken him months to organise it.

"Here, Sir," Chuck began as he retook his seat and pointed at his laptop. "Janus' lab. Oh, it's stopped." The flashing blip that had been bright over that part of the city's map blinked out and didn't return.

John could already guess what had happened. He tapped his radio awake. "Sheppard to McKay. You want to tell me what you're up to in Janus' lab today?"

"This is Dr Keller, medical team to Janus' Lab," Keller's voice came back worriedly over the radio.

John's laid back coffee break vibe split apart at that. "Dr Keller, what's going on?" He demanded over the radio.

"It's Rodney, he collapsed-"

"I'm fine," Rodney's sleepy muttering announced abruptly. "That was…"

"You are not fine, stay there," Keller interrupted.

"You still want the medical team, Dr Keller?" Another voice asked over the radio waves.

"Yes," Keller replied.

"No," Rodney protested immediately. "No, no, what I need is a pen…give me that…"

John let out a relieved breath. "Dr Keller?"

"He seems alright for now, Colonel," Keller replied, though she sounded distracted.

"What happened exactly?" John asked.

"He activated a piece of Janus technology and collapsed. He was unconscious for a minute or two, but now appears mostly himself."

"We detected strange readings up here," John replied. "What is the current state of the Janus device?"

"I have made sure it is inactive, Colonel," another voice replied, which John didn't recognise, but then there were a lot of scientists in the city now who he didn't know.

"Okay, I'm on my way," John replied. "Keep things together up here, Chuck," he added over his shoulder as he left the Control Room.

"Yes, Sir," Chuck replied with feeling – he didn't want to be working the Sunday shift anymore than anyone else. Well, the military didn't stop for weekends, though, admittedly, they did slow down for them in Atlantis now.

000

John could already hear Rodney from down the corridor, so he was happy that Rodney was okay. Well, as 'okay' as you could ever describe him.

"Shhh, I need to concentrate," McKay was saying as John neared the entrance to his lab.

"It's just rude," the unknown voice replied to Rodney. "Those calculations and ideas were mine, you can't just wipe them off the board without permission."

"This is _far_ more important than anything you were working on," Rodney replied tactfully.

Rodney had been getting short with many of the newer scientists, probably because they were treading on his potential scientific discoveries and credit in John's opinion. Rodney said it was because the newbie scientists didn't know what they were doing.

John entered the lab and saw immediately that all was in hand; there were no fires, no flashing warning lights, nobody was unconscious. The medical team had come and gone by the time John had gotten down here, so there were only four people in the room now. Two scientists whom John didn't know, Keller, and Rodney who was feverishly writing math across one of the whiteboards set up in the cramped lab. They had permanently removed the unstable hidden entrance to Janus' lab, so there would be no accidents in getting in or out of the lab.

"What's going on?" John asked as he approached Rodney and Keller.

Keller looked annoyed and confused as she watched Rodney scribbling on the board. "He's been working like this since he came round."

"It's important to record it now in case I forget it later," Rodney replied as he stood back from the whiteboard. John stood next to him and frowned at the formulas he couldn't understand.

"What's important?" He asked.

"What I saw," Rodney replied offhandedly as he lifted the whiteboard pen again and found a small free area on the board and began to add more scribbles. "I tried to remember everything I saw, but who knows…maybe it was x over that part," he muttered. "Damn it, I didn't see the rest of it."

"Of what, McKay?" John asked, his patience running out, as was so often the case with his friend and colleague. Even years of practice didn't help. "_What_ happened?"

Rodney stood back from the board again, frowning as he stared at his formula explosion.

"Rodney," John repeated, and this time he reached out and pulled on Rodney's closest arm, turning him.

Rodney's eyes finally left the board and met John's; they were bright and somewhat wild.

"The device," Rodney replied as he pulled out of John's grasp and hurried across the room towards a large lump of Ancient tech that was currently filling one of the lab tables. One side of the device was open and a generator had been linked up to it.

"Did you get permission to link it up to a generator?" John asked as he followed Rodney, pointing to the two deactivated pieces of tech.

"That doesn't matter," Rodney replied. "I built the thing; I can decide what I hook it up to."

"Yes, I'm sure that thinking would have worked well with the inventors of the atomic bomb," John replied.

"Actually, the vast majority of them didn't want to-"

"McKay," John interrupted, his patience near breaking point. "_What_ is it?" He demanded gesturing to the Janus tech.

"It made me see the future," Rodney replied.

The room went quiet.

"It did what?" John replied. "Did he hit his head when he went down?" He asked Keller.

"No, I was sitting on the floor, Janus warned about that," Rodney replied. "It was one of his most secret experiments, one he had dismantled into three separate pieces to hide it, but I found the schematic in his database and managed to put it back together."

"And you thought you would just turn it on and see what happens?" John asked incredulous. "You know more than most what that can lead to."

"It was amazing, John," Rodney replied though, his voice almost reverent. "I saw, I experienced a minute or two of the future. Seeing through my own eyes, watching myself working on those calculations." He pointed towards the board.

"Rodney, you can't see the future," Keller replied.

"With this you can," Rodney replied. "Janus' theory was that you could more easily jump ahead in time with your consciousness rather than physically. That the stream of our consciousness can exist outside the confines of time and space. For a brief time you can witness what your consciousness will experience in some future point."

"Rodney, that sounds nuts," John replied.

"How can _you_ say that? You've been to the future," Rodney argued. "We know that in specific circumstances, time travel is possible. This is just another way of doing it."

"Seeing a couple of minutes of your future doesn't exactly seem the best way of going about it," one of the scientists stood behind Keller suggested.

"Didn't Janus create a time travel drive in a Jumper?" The other scientist put in. "The one that Dr Weir used in an alternate future to travel back in time?"

John was impressed with the newbie's recall, though the mention of Elizabeth brought with it the customary tweak of grief.

"Yes, this was part of his experiments to time travel, only he was banned by the other Ancients from using the time travel drive," Rodney replied. "It's all in Janus' log. They stopped him from using the drive, but they didn't know about this experiment."

"Perhaps if it's your own future consciousness you share, he thought that would slip through their ban," the other scientist considered.

John considered the large piece of tech as the scientists began debating that idea. If this thing really could let you see the future…

"What did you see, Rodney?" John interrupted abruptly, "Exactly."

Rodney turned towards the whiteboard.

"Not the calculation, I mean what else did you see?" John countered before Rodney started. "Detail by detail."

Rodney paused longer to consider that. "I was on the Daedalus, or a ship like it, and working on a new type of drive. These calculations were on a glass board in front of me, and I was adding data into a computer.

"That's it?" John asked, somewhat disappointed.

"You don't understand," Rodney replied with an annoyed sigh. "This," he gestured emphatically to the whiteboard, "is to formulate how to form wormholes of our own. To have a wormhole drive for our ships, like the one that burnt out for Atlantis."

John looked at the board again. "This is how you work that out?" He asked.

"Yes," Rodney replied, pleased John had finally seen the significance. "Well," he added, "some of it."

"Some of it?" John asked.

"It was only a minute or so that I saw and it took a moment or two to work out what was happening to me. I was looking through my own eyes, but I wasn't in control of what I was doing, what I saw saying."

"What were you saying?" Keller asked.

Rodney frowned thoughtfully. "We were in trouble," he said, as if he was only now processing things. "Yes, there was the smell of burning somewhere. Someone was shouting at me to work faster."

"Me, probably," John replied sarcastically.

"No, it wasn't your voice," Rodney replied. "He said something about the Wraith…"

"What about the Wraith?" John asked.

"We were on a mission, something about gathering something, but the Wraith had found us…I think the hyperdrive was down, so the experimental drive was our only hope."

Rodney lapsed into silence.

"And?"

"That's all I saw, I was still working on the calculations when I jumped back here," Rodney replied. "But, I can go back."

00000

"Time travel?" Woolsey intoned. Again.

"Yes," Rodney replied impatiently. Again.

"Are you sure you didn't just dream this?" Woolsey asked.

"It wasn't a dream or a hallucination."

Woolsey turned to Dr Keller. "Doctor?"

"I've run every test I can think of on Rodney and he's fine. For him," she added. John smiled across the table at her and Rodney. "There's no physical medical evidence that it was or wasn't a hallucination," she continued.

"It wasn't a hallucination," Rodney protested.

"Forgive me, Dr McKay," Woolsey said calmly, "but equally there isn't any real evidence that what you experienced _was_ the future either."

"Of course it was. There are the calculations I saw-"

"Half of which you can't even understand," Woolsey pointed out.

"Which only goes to show that it's from something I will develop in the future," Rodney replied hotly, clearly not liking his ignorance of the calculations being pointed out in front of everyone.

"You're assuming that it will be _you_ who will develop those calculations," Radek put in from the seat next to Rodney.

"The calculations are not evidence enough," said Woolsey, cutting off the potential rivalry driven argument Radek and Rodney would no doubt have started.

"Janus developed the device to do just what it did," Rodney argued. "He tested it himself and the same thing he described happened to me."

"Which, I assume, is why you had Dr Keller with you when you performed your testing of the device," Woolsey said.

"I had no idea he planned the experiment," Keller added.

"An experiment that you didn't discuss with anyone else, or have permission to use a generator for, Dr McKay," Woolsey continued.

"Isn't anyone focusing on what this means?" Rodney replied. "Time travel. Even if it's only for a few minutes, it can give us a glimpse of the future. We do it enough and we can map out what will happen."

"Rodney, you and I both know that by witnessing the future, observing it, that itself will change the course of history," Radek put in.

"No, we don't know that for sure," Rodney argued. "Remember Davos - what he told us still came true, we just hadn't understood what it was that he saw."

"That cannot be taken as the same thing-" Radek objected.

"You want evidence, then we repeat the experiment. With more people," Rodney announced.

John's mind had been turning over all this for the last hour since Rodney's little experiment. If they really could catch a glimpse of the future, who knows what they could learn.

"That way we can confirm each other's experiences," Rodney continued.

"Only if we were all to experience the same point in our future as each other," Radek replied.

"True, but even if we don't see the exact same moment, we can still look for common points that will confirm whether we are seeing the same future."

"Doctors," Woolsey interrupted. "It seems to me, that if this were a viable means of gaining intelligence, that the Ancients would have used it."

"Maybe they did," Rodney replied. "Janus only mentions his initial experiments in his log. Maybe he saw the future, that the Wraith would win and his people would abandon ship through the Stargate. Who knows, maybe he was the one to suggest Earth to them?"

John's head started to hurt with that thought.

"Or maybe, as with other pieces of Janus' technology, it was deemed too dangerous. There may be side effects in using the device that you didn't experience," Woolsey countered.

"Possibly," Rodney had to admit.

"And he did take the device apart. Why did he do that if he hadn't had a reason?" Woolsey pushed.

"He recorded side effects, negative or otherwise, on all his experiments he conducted in his lab, I'm sure he would have with this one as well."

"Nevertheless," Woolsey replied, "it is a huge risk to take."

"But perhaps also a huge opportunity," Teyla added. She had been quiet all through this discussion, as had Ronon and Carson.

"I agree," John put in immediately. "In Rodney's vision they were under attack by the Wraith while on some vital mission. That implies that we, or at least the ship Rodney was on, will return to Pegasus."

"Or perhaps the Wraith will have managed to leave Pegasus," Teyla added, finishing John's thought.

"That's intel that we could really use," he concluded.

"We could find out how they'll attack," suggested Ronon. "Maybe see some future weapons McKay could develop ahead of time."

Woolsey pondered that for a second. "You only experienced a few minutes of your possible future self. How much can we learn in that amount of time?"

"I had the device on a low setting. I believe that at a higher setting Janus was able to experience perhaps twice the amount of time I did."

"He was an Ancient," Keller put in.

"This isn't to do with genetics, it's about consciousness," Rodney replied.

"Exactly, Rodney," Carson put in for the first time. "The Ancients were able to ascend. It's possible that their consciousness was different to our own."

"If it were, how was I able to experience what he did?"

"If you really did," Radek muttered. Rodney glared at him.

"What I am concerned about is the safety aspect," Woolsey added – he looked like he was coming around to the idea.

"I feel fine," Rodney replied, eagerness visibly bubbling just under the surface. He saw the victory ahead as John did.

"Nevertheless, we have no idea what a repeat experience might have on you," Woolsey replied.

"I agree," Carson replied. "It would be best that someone else repeat the experiment."

"But-" Rodney protested.

"You could then monitor Janus' device," Keller told him, clearly trying to persuade him. "We have no idea what it might do to you a second time."

"Janus said nothing about-"

"Rodney, we know that Janus left much out of his logs, official or otherwise," Teyla interrupted with her calm logical tone.

"I'm sure he would have mentioned something bad," Rodney replied.

"And it could have irreversible affects on humans that Janus wouldn't have experienced," Carson added.

Concern now tinged Rodney's expression. "But, I wanted to see the rest of the calculations."

"It is unlikely that you would experience the same future moment again if you repeat the experiment yourself," Radek added.

"Oh, and _now_ you believe I saw the future."

"I am just saying," Radek replied, holding his hands up. "And we have to consider the power requirements."

"How much power did it use?" Woolsey asked.

"The generator has been drained by a third of its power," Radek replied.

"A third?"

"The device created a massive field of…something, we do not understand the physics of it yet," Radek replied.

"So realistically we could repeat the test once more without burning out the generator. One person could see the future," Woolsey considered.

"I'll do it," John volunteered quickly. A split second before Radek, Carson, and Ronon said the same. Ronon grumbled loudly.

"You can all try," Rodney responded. "The device creates its field of, whatever it does," he said dismissively with a frown, clearly not liking that he didn't understand Janus' device, "and by touching it, you will be included in that field for the split second it takes to push consciousness forward in time. I don't see why more than one person couldn't be in that field at once."

"Maybe then we would all experience the same time in the future as well," Teyla considered.

John looked round at her with a knowing smile – she hadn't volunteered earlier, but early wanted to be a part of the experiment.

"I perhaps could learn of my people and others in my home galaxy," she suggested at his smile, almost as if making an excuse. "If there is a return trip to Pegasus in the future, it is likely that I will be a part of it."

Possibly returning to be with her people. With Kanaan and Torren.

John turned back to Woolsey, ignoring the dragging sadness, and watched the older man consider the problem. John could see that Woolsey was going to go for it though, because how could you miss a chance to see your own future?

"Alright, I'll discuss it with Earth Defence and the IOA, and go from there," Woolsey agreed.

0000

The room felt crowded as the device was set up in a cleared room off the Infirmary. It had taken the Powers That Be all of a day to agree to the experiment. Of course, they had wanted to send a couple of their own representatives to be in on the experiment. But, with the limited space of the device meant that Rodney had narrowed it down to eight people who could all touch the device safely at once.

Medical beds had been set pointing out in eight directions from the device in the centre of the room. It was overkill in John's opinion, but Keller wanted everyone to be safe and clearly monitored. Each bed had a nurse next to it, readying the all the sensors that would monitor all their life signs.

General O'Neill had arrived in the city early this morning to oversee the experiment for Earth Defence, and he stood now to one side of the room with Woolsey and two IOA observers. The General looked excited about the experiment, as John was too, though John was starting to feel somewhat apprehensive now it was almost time to begin.

What would he see? Would he be dropped into the middle of a fight against Wraith or some other massive scary creature? What if he witnessed someone he knew die? Or died himself? What if he didn't experience anything? Would that mean he was dead in the future? How far into the future would he see?

Movement in the doorway brought in more scientists. They had set up the generator next to the Janus device and were now hooking up as many computers and scanners to it as possible so that they could record anything and everything the device might do during the experiment.

Beyond them, Ronon entered, looking as excited as he ever got. Behind him, John could see Teyla stood just outside the room, little Torren in her arms, and he watched her press a kiss to the boy's temple. A goodbye, just in case she didn't come back from the experiment.

John had almost talked her out of it yesterday during the team meal, but, like Ronon, her future could tell them a lot about what would happen in Pegasus. If there was to be a return trip to Pegasus, whether it was on the ship Rodney saw or not, it was likely that Ronon and Teyla would also be aboard. Which was why John was here as well. He had prepared every excuse he could think of to be included, but there had been no objection. He was in.

It was only now he was starting to fret a bit about what he might see.

"Right, people, let's get this dance started shall we?" General O'Neill announced brightly.

Everyone began to file into the room, picking a bed as theirs. John picked the bed to the furthest right, and sat on its edge as he watched the others. Teyla had handed Torren away to whoever was looking after him today, possibly Kanaan for all John knew. She was the last to pick a bed and therefore was left with the one closest to the door, far from him. He caught her eye though and gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. She smiled back, appearing eager herself to start the experiment even after having had to say a possible goodbye to Torren. Maybe she was getting used to it by now.

The nurse assigned to his bed, stepped in front of John and smiled. "Colonel," she said. She had been in Atlantis for years and John was glad of that small detail. He settled back onto the bed, his head worryingly close to the Janus device, and the nurse set about hooking him up to the monitors filling up the space to the right of his bed. Gentle business conversation filled the room. Keller was here to watch over them all, Rodney beside her, stood at the largest computer linked up with the Janus device. He had rigged it so that he didn't have to touch the device himself to activate it.

To John's left was a guy called Mitch, who had been volunteered to be one of the IOA's guinea pigs. He worked in the political world of the IOA, so clearly his job was to witness the future of political workings on Earth. Ronon was on the next bed beyond Mitch, Carson the one next to him, then the other IOA representative, Teyla, Radek, and finally round to the final bed on John's right. Woolsey sat on the edge of that last bed with clear nervousness. John gave him a smile, trying not to be amused that the guy was so nervous about his future, but also impressed that Woolsey had wanted to be part of this.

Once Woolsey laid down on his bed, the conversation died away. Last checks of monitors were done and finally all was ready.

"Okay people," General O'Neill's voice drifted to John from across the room. "I can't stress this enough to all of you – you need to remember _everything_ you see. We probably won't run this again, so this is it."

He fell into silence. Typical O'Neill speech – short and sweet.

"Yes, Sir," John called out, feeling something needed to be said in response.

"Good," O'Neill replied, seeming pleased. "Good luck."

Rustling of clothing meant that everyone not vital to the experiment was leaving the room. John glanced round to see that O'Neill was stood in the far doorway, the nurses behind him. The nurses would return once the initial energy burst from the device had passed, just in case, after all Rodney would be running it at near full power this time. The only two people in the room who weren't on this little trip to the future were Rodney and Keller.

"Running final checks," Rodney announced. "I've pushed the level near to the top, which I predict should give you maybe five minutes in the future, but I can't know for sure."

"And we won't be able to alter anything, right?" Carson asked from a far bed.

"No, Carson," Rodney replied. They had talked this through last night. "You will only be an observer, experiencing it through your senses, only witnessing what's going on. Which is why all of you have got to focus as quickly as possible once you get there. Any tiny little detail could be vital. If you see any maps or display screens, try to memorise precisely what you see-"

"They've got it, McKay," O'Neill called from the doorway.

"Right, okay," Rodney replied. There was some tapping on his computer, but John couldn't see him from where he lay.

"Good luck, everyone," Carson called out quietly.

"Same to you, Carson," Teyla replied softly.

"Let's just hope we're not thrown right into a space battle," John muttered.

"Why is that not good?" Radek asked.

"Very few display screens in a F302 that will help with future info," he replied.

"I do not know…" Radek started.

"Shut up now," Rodney called, "It's starting. I'm powering up the device."

A strange sensation filled the air, almost like static. It seemed to itch faintly against John's skin. He twitched one cheek to try and relieve it.

"Okay, everything's in the green. I need all of you to reach back over your head and touch the device. Gently," Rodney ordered.

John lifted his left arm, the one bare of monitoring cables, and reached over his head. His fingers met the cool smooth device almost immediately. He settled his hand as comfortably as possible against it. Woolsey's thumb brushed against his hand briefly as the man got his own arm in a comfortable position.

"Okay, everybody ready?" Rodney asked, and this time John could hear a touch of nervousness in the man's voice.

"We're all ready," John announced once everyone else had answered Rodney.

"Right, initiating start-up sequence."

"Remember, everyone, memorise as much as you can," O'Neill repeated from the distance.

John tried to relax, and with only the bare ceiling as entertainment, apart from the distracting display of his life signs to his right, he closed his eyes.

The device began to warm under his hand, and a pulsing sensation began to thrum through his fingertips.

He needed to focus, to take in everything he saw.

Would he fall into the middle of a fight? Would he be flying? Or would he be fast asleep and experience some trippy dream. Great, just what he would want to see - the same nightmare twice over.

"The field is building," Rodney announced.

The device was growing hot under John's hand and the itching pulsing was now getting uncomfortable.

John opened his mouth to ask Rodney if this was what was supposed to happen, and then, abruptly, everything stopped.

000

Silence, soft, quiet silent darkness.

It took John a second to process that he really was somewhere different.

Only it was all black, silent, and empty.

No, wait, not empty. He realised he could feel the softness around him.

There was a supportive cushioning feel under him, under all of him.

The soft silence was now definitely a sensation, a warm comfort.

Was he in bed?

He tried to open his eyes, but he wasn't in control of anything. He couldn't move his body at all. He fought against the panic that naturally rushed forward at that realisation. He was okay; Rodney had warned them about this.

Maybe he was in a dreamless sleep in the future. If this really was the future.

A burst of noise, small but definitely there, drew all his attention and something changed. He couldn't define how, but suddenly he felt different – something was happening.

His eyes opened suddenly, and dark shapes formed in front of him.

The noise repeated. He couldn't tell what it was, but now the shapes before him shifted and he realised he was seeing a bedroom from a horizontal view.

The bedroom shifted to the vertical and the shape of windows across the room made sense to him now.

He didn't recognise where he was, but then the room was dark and the windows were simply outlines of thin material through which some moonlight was glowing.

He tried to move his head to look round the room, but he wasn't in control. He was just an observer. Great, what the hell could he observe about being in bed? That he slept lightly in the future – great, very helpful.

His future self obviously decided whatever the noise had been was unimportant, and the view of the bedroom shifted back to the horizontal. John could feel the soft press of the pillow under his future self's head and the comfortable warm feeling returned.

His own hand appeared in front of him and adjusted the pillow under his cheek. This was weird.

His eyes closed.

Now he couldn't see anything again. Great, just great. The others were probably witnessing battles and fighting Wraith, while he was getting some lacklustre insight into his future sleep patterns.

Then there was movement, a brushing touch against him, and a closer soft sound.

His future self's eyes opened and John saw shadows shifting in the darkness next to him.

The shadows resolved into the outline of a woman's neck and shoulder, just visible above the top of the duvet.

Okay…

She shifted again, as if unable to find a comfortable position.

Fortunately, his future self was just as interested in watching the woman as John was. He watched a silhouette of her hand brushing hair from her cheek.

"She's okay," his own voice said suddenly. His voice had been deep and sleepy, but had still shocked him. It felt weird to hear his voice but having had nothing to do with saying the words.

Then his hand reached out and slid over warm female curves under the duvet. Warmth seeped into his hand, only it was his future self's hand, not his.

She felt good though.

She murmured a response to his future self and the mattress shifted again.

She was moving closer to him, her hip, on which his hand was resting, undulated interestingly as she slid herself back the few inches to meet his body.

Full feminine backside met his upper thighs, and his future self shifted in the bed so that he fit around her. Her back met his chest, sliding easily into place as if she was used to being there.

His arm slid up her side, pulling her closer to him, pressing her heat and the soft material of her bedclothes right up against him. She was petite and fitted against him just right as his future self curled around her. His nose and lips slid up the elegant shadowed angle of where her shoulder met her neck and John experienced a strange moment of familiarity. Maybe he often kissed women like that, yet where was something familiar…

His future self's arm slid further around the woman, his palm sliding around her middle and up, gently cupping one warm breast.

The woman sighed and nestled into him, her backside rubbing against what John could feel was a growing erection.

He felt his future self inhale and the sweet feminine scent that had been gently teasing him before came into sharper focus.

He felt his groin grow heavier.

She murmured a chuckle and rubbed back against him again.

His future self chuckled as well. "It's my sidearm," he murmured. John wished he could roll his eyes at his future self.

The others were going to experience battles and advanced calculations, and John was going to have sex…okay maybe not the bad deal after all. It had been a while. How was he going to report this though? He would just say he was asleep, alone in bed half asleep.

The soft pillow met his cheek again, his other version seeming content to settle and relax in this arousing position.

The woman's hand slid up and down his arm around her in a soothing massage that made his future self's body seem to relax further into the mattress.

His eyes closed, cutting off the outline of silhouetted feminine ear and neck. All was black again.

How long had he been witnessing this? Had five minutes passed already? It felt as if it had been more. What if he was stuck like this? Stuck as an observer only, unable to affect anything again.

The woman shifted in his embrace, turning slightly so that she was leaning back against him more.

"Can't sleep?" His future voice echoed out, startling John again even though it had been soft and sleepy in tone.

The woman's body shifted again, sliding against him nicely, and he felt her hand still on his arm. Damn it, he wanted to force his eyes open.

"No," she murmured quietly. Her voice had been too sleepy to be discernable. She didn't have a foreign accent though, he was almost certain. But, then alien voices usually sounded mostly American to him thanks to the weird Gate translation thing. Rodney still hadn't worked out how that worked.

Soft material under his hand became skin as his future self slid his hand around the woman's waist.

"She's fine," his voice stated again.

He felt her nod against the pillow next to him.

A gentle hand touched against his chest, sliding idle caresses. She was just gently touching him, not teasing him, but John felt his body responding to the touch.

"And Rodney will be okay," she said softly.

Her soft voice seemed familiar, but she was barely whispering so it was hard to tell. Did he know this woman already? How far in the future was this? He had no clues just lying here in the dark.

"They'll be fine too," his future self said as he nestled his cheek into the pillow, which also resulted in him brushing his lips against her temple. "Paul will be peeved at missing the mission though."

She chuckled softly, her hand still caressing his chest gently, soothingly.

"I told him he's needed with the Mimulus," his future voice added. John could tell his future self was growing more awake than before.

"You did warn him," she replied. Her breath ghosted warm air against the top of his chest above the neckline of his t-shirt, and he felt her turn, moving fully into his embrace.

He felt his arms slid around her, slipping over warm bedclothes, but also finding bare skin where it was revealed by the material sliding upwards. His future self seemed very comfortable with this woman, touching her as if he was used to doing so, as if he knew her very well. Maybe they had been together a long time, though there was a lot of…affection between them. He and Nancy had lost that reasonably early once they had gotten properly serious about commitment – that should have been his first clue.

Being with this woman felt different. Her hand slid around his side, hugging him, to slip lower and he felt her hand slid up under his shirt. Her touch teased against nerve endings that felt warm and relaxed, but clearly growing brighter with interest.

His future self finally opened his eyes, but she was out of view now while pressed up against him.

How much more time did John have to witness this? He had to see her face, because it would drive him crazy not to know who this woman was. It would certainly give him confidence in chatting her up when he met her in the future, knowing that they would end up like this.

She murmured against his chest, a deep sleepy happy sound that though he knew meant she was contented and relaxed, still sent a rolling warm rush of arousal through his body.

His nose and lips touched to her hair, inhaling.

She smelt familiar – maybe it was her hair products…or that she…

She rolled back partly out of his embrace, so that she was lying back next to him and her face was suddenly in view.

She was shadowed in darkness and moonlight, but her face was clear.

"I am keeping you awake, it is wrong of me," she said with a smile.

She looked slightly older, but not hugely so.

She was perhaps more beautiful than he had ever seen her before as she laid next to him, her hair spread on the pillow around her, and an openly mischievous glint to her expression.

He felt his future self smile at her, at Teyla. "You usually do when-"

The ceiling of the bright room in Atlantis suddenly filled his senses, the light and noise assaulting him abruptly. The sensation of his body was shockingly real again and he immediately lifted his arms as if he had snapped awake from a deep sleep. Around him, monitors were bleeping, people were talking, and someone was leaning over him.

"Welcome back, Colonel," the nurse said with a smile. "Are you okay?"

"Wow," someone said across the room from John. "That was…" Was that Carson?

"I need pen and paper," Radek called out from the right. "Not a computer tablet, I need to draw what I saw. Now, please!"

"What did you see?" Rodney was asking loudly over the other voices. "Did you see the rest of my calculations?"

"Colonel?" The nurse was hovering near John again, sounding a little worried.

"I'm okay," he managed to reply. His voice felt thick, like he had been a deep sleep. "How long were we out?"

"A little over six minutes," she replied. "Your life readings were all stable throughout though. How do you feel?"

"I'm okay," he repeated, but he felt weird, physically he felt fine, but the experience had been…amazing and weird and… Maybe it had just been a dream. It wouldn't be the first time Teyla had appeared in his dreams.

He pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked round him to see that there was a lot of activity in the room. He pushed up further.

"Take your time, Colonel," the nurse cautioned.

"What did you see?" O'Neill's voice broke through the rest.

"Definitely Wraith," Ronon was saying. "I was on the ship with Rodney, we were under attack."

"Were you the one shouting at me?" Rodney asked.

"No, I didn't recognise him. He was Airforce," Ronon replied before frowning faintly at Rodney. "You looked older."

"Did I still have my hair?" Rodney asked worriedly.

Ronon looked at John and John remembered Rodney had asked him that very same question following his own time travel adventure into a hellish future. This time travel couldn't have been further from that nightmare situation. John had lied to Rodney back then about the future of his hairline, and John saw Ronon's awareness of that now.

"No, you didn't," Ronon replied and John smiled as he looked away, carefully avoiding Teyla's direction for now.

If Ronon and Rodney had seen the same time period during both their jumps forward…did that mean that Teyla had seen what John had? Only through her own future version's eyes?

John focused on helping the nurse remove the sticky pads from his skin that had been monitoring his life signs.

"Dr Zelenka, what did you see?" O'Neill asked.

"I was at a conference, on Earth. There were some of the brightest minds there, some I did not recognise, but many I did," Radek replied with clear excitement. "We were discussing some ideas after the conference…I really must get it all down first," he added, returning his attention to the pad of paper on his lap that he continued to furiously scribble on. Rodney moved round the room and peered over Radek's shoulder to watch what he was writing.

"Carson, what did you see?" Keller asked and John switched his attention to Carson, again avoiding looking directly at Teyla, though he had glimpsed enough to see that she was also working with her nurse to remove the monitors from her skin.

"I was in Atlantis, it was late at night, but I was working with a group of doctors, none I've met before, but they were definitely from Earth. We were developing a vaccine for a population that were very sick. None of us mentioned where the plague was, it might have been on Earth or another planet, and I couldn't tell you if the city was back in Pegasus or on Earth still."

"Do you remember the details you were working on for the vaccine?" Keller asked.

"Yes, some of it," Carson replied.

"Write down as much as you can now, Dr Beckett, while it's still fresh in your mind," General O'Neill suggested, pointing to the pad of paper on the bed for Carson.

Carson nodded and immediately picked up the pen and began writing.

John's nurse moved away from him and John looked round to find O'Neill looking at him, his eyebrows raised.

John worked not to look in Teyla's direction. "Sorry, Sir, it was late at night, and I was falling asleep in bed."

O'Neill only just managed to control his disappointment. "Were you in Atlantis?"

John tried again to remember what the bedroom had looked like, but he hadn't seen any clear details. "Not sure, if it was Atlantis, my future self has different quarters."

Had they been Teyla's quarters?

O'Neill nodded. "Mr Woolsey?"

John willingly turned his entire attention on the man next to him.

"I was on Earth, definitely, working in an office I didn't recognise. I am writing down all I can remember of the work I was completing, but it wasn't clear what my role was there. The window of my office looked out over a large park and there were high-rise buildings around it. I didn't recognise the city."

"Maybe some time looking online might jog your memory of the city," Radek suggested as he continued to fill page after page of notes, Rodney peering at them and being elbowed in the ribs occasionally for getting too close.

"Give it a go," O'Neill suggested. "Teyla, what did you see?"

John made sure to control his expression as he finally looked at her.

She looked up at O'Neill with a somewhat surprised expression before she blinked and her 'in control' expression reappeared. "I am afraid, I also was falling asleep. Though, I believe I was in Atlantis."

"You didn't notice anything else that might be helpful?" O'Neill pushed.

She took a breath and shook her head. "No, I am sorry," she replied.

Then she glanced out the corner of her eyes towards John.

He knew then that she had experienced the same moment as he had.

It meant that in the future, at least as it was set when they witnessed it, he and Teyla were together. And not just dating, they had been so comfortable and relaxed with each other. Tucked up sleepily together.

There had been no more her and Kanaan, no more just friends or colleagues - they had been an item.

Only, by seeing that future, did that mean that it might not happen that way now?

He wondered how long it would take to find out.

0000  
THE END


End file.
